Hobby School Hosts Training Programs for Social Scientists

The Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston will host the 2018 Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Summer Research, a national initiative to train social scientists in sophisticated research methods.

Pablo Pinto, director of the Center for Public Policy at the Hobby School, said the workshops are part of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, which offers hands-on training in statistical techniques, research methodologies and data analysis, in addition to serving as a repository for social science and political data.

This is the first year the Hobby School has hosted workshops as a member of the consortium, which is based at the University of Michigan. Four workshops, taught by Hobby School and UH political science faculty, will be held in May.

Jim Granato, executive director of the Hobby School, said the program is among the top quantitative training programs in the world. “Its mission is in keeping with the Hobby School’s emphasis on rigorous quantitative training,” he said. “We are pleased to have the Hobby School – in only its second year of existence – be associated with such an important education and training entity.”

Pinto said the workshops are designed to cover the basic tools and methods used in political analysis, as well as advanced themes for experienced students and policy analysts.

“These tools are the bread and butter for policy, business and financial analysts in the public and private sector,” Pinto said.